


Red Is the Color

by thechaoscryptid



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, referenced Shadam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 10:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21336544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thechaoscryptid/pseuds/thechaoscryptid
Summary: It’s not the sort of kiss people sing of. It’s a little less fire and a little more embers, but as Keith’s lips part below his, Shiro welcomes the soft red of his inhibitions burning away.Keith is an amalgamation of every shade from blush to blood to wine, and Shiro knows there’s no fate he’d like more than to drown in the color that’s been his constant.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Kudos: 41





	Red Is the Color

**Author's Note:**

> Cleaned up from a twitter thread!
> 
> Minor edits made 2/7/2019

Red, to Shiro, has been a consistent companion. It’s the color of sunsets watched from the Garrison walls, the roses Adam gave him after their first night together, the jacket Keith wears. It’s passion, pride, and the color of the string that used to stretch from Shiro’s wrist into the unknown.

Everyone’s appears at different times, that’s known--fate’s never so kind as to make things  _ easy-- _ but even so, it was hard to watch everyone around him find theirs while he sat there, hoping for the day crimson would unravel from the pale skin of weakening wrists.

He and Adam both knew  _ no strings attached  _ would be hard and though he’d figured Adam wasn’t the one, it stung when those suspicions were confirmed and he was, once again, alone.

On the journey to Kerberos, red remained. He sunk deep into its depths whenever his eyes closed, because in the vast emptiness of space,  _ not  _ thinking of the ones you left behind is nigh on impossible. Nothing stopped his mind from supplying visions of dark hair spilling over red-clad shoulders that held the weight of the world.

In the confines of the Arena, red remained. It dripped from blade and hand and face until it was all he could think about, and then it became something to hold onto. Something to focus on and yet still, none of those stains spooled out to connect with another soul.

In the ship he crashed back to Earth in, red remained. In the lion who chose Keith, red remained. In planets and warnings and fighting and otherworldly suns rising red remained and yet somehow, there was still nothing to tie him to another.

The day Keith nearly died to prove himself worthy of the Blades was the day Shiro looked down to see the string coalescing. It was also the day he began to mourn the fact that of all the people he’d considered his soulmate might be, Keith didn’t appear to be it.

Through everything, the string taunted him. The paladins went through more of the same day after day, and day after day, Shiro kept his chin up and joked that perhaps it was true he was in love with the impossible.

After all, a paladin who loved the universe herself couldn’t be so bad.

When he died, he woke to an eternal plane of stars. He watched from Black as Kuron put Keith through so much and when it came time to watch Keith be hurt, nearly die by the bastard’s hand, he decided enough was enough. Endless red string be damned, Keith was it for him.

Being transferred from Black and waking in another body was an experience. In the confusion and sensations washing over him, he missed the subtle tug of something on his wrist. It was easier to focus on the way Keith’s arms felt around him--like everything he’d ever longed for.

It was also far too easy to let darkness wash over him, the body unable to contain his essence without destroying itself. There were no dreams of red in that sleep, only a flat grey as body and soul fought for the ability to exist.

Waking up from that…

Shiro doesn’t know he’ll ever forget the look on Keith’s face when he told Shiro to look at their wrists. He hasn’t been able to close his eyes without seeing it, not even when he collapses into a lion’s small bunk clad in nothing but exhaustion. He certainly can’t forget now that Keith’s red jacket is covering them as they lay huddled on Keith’s mattress, shutting out the rest of the universe.

He doesn’t think he wants to forget.

It’s one of the rare times he’s awake and Keith’s not, giving him the opportunity to appreciate the way Keith looks when lax with sleep. It’s not the first time he’s seen it, of course--Keith’s spent plenty of nights on his couch after getting in fights or running away from his problems.

Red’s followed him here, too, in more ways than the string between them. It’s seeped to just below the surface of Keith’s skin and turned purple, fading away to a sickly yellow around the edges. It haunts Keith’s torn lips with every breath, and Shiro swallows hard against the want to kiss it away.

Soulmates, yes.

Known each other for what seems like forever, yes.

Comfortable in this newfound thing?  
Well, Keith seems to be, if the light snoring and hanging on tight are any indication. Shiro doesn’t know if he _should _be. Things are still foreign and if he can’t trust _himself _with this new body, why should Keith trust the face that sent him nearly to his death?

Shiro certainly wouldn’t.

There’s red in the frustration bubbling in his chest. His hand shakes with the want to reach out and smooth the unruly hair from Keith’s face, but he doesn’t want to surprise him and end up on the ground with a knife at his throat. He’s woken Keith before. 

It’s never a good idea.

The heat between them begins to travel into his limbs, searing into him and making him with  _ someone  _ would’ve told him how much it hurts to wake up next to the man you’ve loved for so long. He absolutely aches with the feeling and when he grinds his palm into his forehead with a grimace, Keith stirs.

“Shiro…” he breathes. 

Shiro briefly considers answering, but before he can get a word out, Keith turns over and bares the half-healed burn on his cheek. His throat works as he swallows and it’s all Shiro can do to force his eyes to the damaged flesh. A soft noise breaks through the trance, as well as Keith’s hand on his thigh.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“You were supposed to stay asleep,” Shiro sighs, resting his forehead against Keith’s shoulder.

“Hard to sleep when I can  _ hear  _ you thinking.” Keith smiles, eyes still closed. “You’ve never been subtle.”

“Thanks.”

“Mhmm.” Keith rolls the rest of the way over and shuffles back, pressing his warmth against Shiro’s chest as he relaxes once more. “You should be resting too.”

“Should,” Shiro whispers.

“Is it my turn to lecture you about the importance of sleep after a hard time?” Keith teases gently.

“No, but I think I can rest easier now that you’re by my side.”

Keith’s skin heats under Shiro’s hand at that, but it’s true--Shiro’s always been able to sleep better when he only  _ thinks  _ of Keith as he’s drifting off. The heat from his actual, physical presence makes it hard to focus on anything but the way leather-gloved hands rub circles on his leg. Keith opens his mouth like he’s got something to say, but closes it in the next breath.

Shiro wants to ferret out every secret Keith’s holding back.

“I always thought of you when I was out on missions,” Keith says before Shiro can form a thought. “To sleep.” He curls in on himself with an embarrassed huff, and Shiro thinks it’s the sweetest noise he’s ever heard. “Even before...this.” Red droops from his fingers as he gathers the string between them, holding it as though it’s priceless. “Sort of guessed we were fated, you know?”

“I should’ve,” Shiro says. Of everything he regrets about their history,  _ that  _ has to be the worst, waiting for something he should’ve seen all along. He lets out a shaky breath and as it washes over Keith’s bare spine, Keith shivers. “But you saved me.”

“Shiro,” Keith says again, and when he turns once more to face him, there’s watery red in his eyes as they burn. “We saved each other.” When Shiro doesn’t answer right away, he dangles the cord between them. “Made for each other.”

“Across every plane.” Shiro hasn’t quite yet let Keith know everything yet, about the endless yearning as he watched his string disappear to nowhere. He doesn’t want to yet--of all things they’ve shared, that alone seems like an admission that would cut too deep. Instead, he smiles a quiet smile and nods when Keith does. “Or, you know, most of the known universe.”

Keith nuzzles closer, angling himself so his face is firmly planted below Shiro’s. “I’m just glad we have this time,” he says.

Shiro huffs a laugh and cards his fingers through the tangled mess Keith likes to call  _ hair.  _ “Tell me that in three weeks when you’re bouncing off the walls because you feel caged,” he says. “Even I had a hard time on the way to Kerberos.”

“Probably right,” Keith mumbles, arching into the touch with what sounds  _ distinctly  _ like a purr. His body stiffens, trembles as he stretches, and his growling whine makes want to kiss away the furrow between his brow. Unfortunately, it fades before he can act. “Should sleep.”

Shiro hums in acknowledgement before pulling the scratchy blanket up and adjusting Keith’s jacket over them. “Go ahead,” he says softly. “I’ll join you eventually.”

“I’m not going to beg,” Keith says, “or order, but you really should think about sooner than ‘eventually.’”

“Five minutes,” Shiro says, and Keith’s fingers come up to dance along the line of his jaw.

“There’s a lot to do in five minutes,” he says, eyes slipping shut.

“Is there?”

Keith heats up again, all the way down to his chest. “You could kiss me.”

Shiro’s heart thuds harder at that, Keith’s want made known. He could. He  _ should,  _ and in the barely-there light of Black’s cabin, he leans forward until his face hovers just in front of Keith’s. The half-inch between them might as well be a half-mile Shiro’s offered to sprint, because it’s daunting. Too much space and somehow not enough, and he wants to bite his lips in anxiety until they match Keith’s.

“Sooner than eventually, baby,” Keith says again, staunchly refusing to look Shiro in the eye after taking the risk. “Like, now?”

That’s what it takes to spur Shiro into action. He doesn’t even breathe before closing the distance, only knows he doesn’t want to wait another second. It’s not the sort of kiss people sing of. It’s a little less fire and a little more embers, but as Keith’s lips part below his, Shiro welcomes the red of his inhibitions burning away.

Keith is an amalgamation of every shade from blush to blood to wine, and Shiro knows there’s no fate he’d like more than to drown in the color that’s been his constant. A spark of pain dances along his lips, and he opens his eyes to see Keith pulling away to bite down on a knuckle before burying his face in the pillow. 

“Easy,” he whispers. “Easy, Keith.”

“‘M sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Shiro presses one, two, three kisses to the back of Keith’s hand before he convinces him to drop it. “Learning curve.”

Keith  _ melts  _ as Shiro’s hand cups the back of his neck to tip it forward. “Uh-huh,” he breathes, stealing Shiro’s air. “Not really...a lot of practice. Big curve.” He presses closer, eyes flicking over Shiro’s face before he presses his own into the meat of Shiro’s chest. “That’ll come in time, too?”

“Yeah,” Shiro says, and though it’s barely audible, his confidence shines brighter than any star they’ve saved. “We have the rest of our lives if this--” He tugs at the string, smiling. “Is any indication.”

“Mm.”

“Sleep,” Shiro mumbles into Keith’s temple. “We can pick it back up in the morning, baby, I promise.” Keith’s nails dig into his shoulder as he nods, and Shiro fights a sneeze as it tickles his nose. “I love you.”

The string between them pulses the gentlest shade of crimson as, slurred with sleep, Keith repeats it back. Within a minute, his breathing evens as he slumps bonelessly to the mattress. When Shiro follows him, the red he dreams of isn’t blood or roses or sunsets.

It’s everything they are, together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments always read and _very_ much appreciated, and I always do my best to get back to them ❤️
> 
> You can also find me lurking and yelling about fictional characters on:  
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